Chaos at Sakchi-Mango link road due to haphazard and illegal parking

Jamshedpur : Commuting on the busy double-lane Sakchi Highway linking commercial hub of Sakchi to Mango has become difficult affair due to haphazard and illegal parking.

The nearly 300 meter important artery in Sakchi which has important establishment such as Axis Bank, Reliance Fresh, Bazaar Kolkata, V2, Hero Honda showroom and leading food chains Kentucky Fried Chicken apart from only link to socio-cultural hub The Bengal Club has become an example of illegal parking robbing pedestrians of adequate space to move while going to these establishments.

The stretch witnesses on an average over 1 lakh vehicles each day including commercial vehicles like town buses and auto-rickshaws who ferry passengers from Sakchi to Mango and Sitaramdera bus terminus on this route.

Worst is the case of motorists who have no option but to drive cautiously often at a snail�s pace to prevent collision against a SUV or automobile backing up from these unauthorized parking spaces virtually on the road.

Deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Jamshedpur, R. M Sinha admitted of the parking problem but passed on the buck to the local urban body (Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee) to ensure that all building have basement and underground parking plans so that customers do not park vehicles on road.

�The local urban body officials should first ensure that all the commercial establishments have underground parking facility and customers visiting their firms have adequate parking space. This problem will cease to exist. We cannot control parking,� the DSP traffic said.

The traffic problem is adding to the woes of road users with the congested roads, lack of parking places, poor traffic sense among road users, especially the auto rickshaw and mini buses.

Moreover with the vehicular movement in Telco (HS road), Jugsalai( Station Road), Sonari (near Kagalnagar), Sakchi (Aam Bagan and Kasidih), Bistupur (Rani Kudar), Kadma (Rankini Temple), are drawing heavy crowd and traffic personnel would face the problem in these areas.

It is high time that the district administration comes into action regarding the matter before the city start resembling like a mad house.

�The city�s population has reached closed to 13 lakhs but still it does not have single flyover. I think the private parties should be involved to develop and beautify roundabouts and maintenance of the roads in the non-Jusco area,� said a Kameshwar Prasad, a senior citizen.

East Singhbhum district deputy commissioner Amitabh Kaushal promised of action after a discussion with Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC). “We will certainly initiate steps to ensure that commuters do not face problem on this important stretch after discussion with JNAC officials,” the DC said.